Game Time Decision

Following my fiddy, it was all systems go. It wasn't nearly as tough as I thought to get up to that number. In fact, it was pretty easy. I wanted one more long run before I made my Pineland decision.

So, on a rainy morning, I snuck to The Brad for a real solid 23.5 miles in under 4 hours. Great run. Even better solo run. Route was simple: Scuffle, Breaker and the Bruiser without the Island or O Trails. It's the Not Quite Extreme Bradbury Bad Ass.



I ran the Scuffle very comfortably in an hour even and then got a little excited on the Breaker with a 1:35 split. Probably a touch faster than necessary, but really, why not? I actually ran everything on each lap except the final few strides to the summit. Then once across the street, I thought of turning in on the Link Trail near the end of the Mini-Bruiser, but that would have been lame. Finished the run with a 10:06 average, which I was pretty happy with. I was tired—that will happen after 4 hours of running—but no where close to spent. Great confidence boost. I was ready for the 50k.

Then I got sick. Horrible sore throat to start followed by a 100° fever on Friday. The cold, plague, whatever it was coincided with the height of my allergy troubles. I used a full roll of toilet paper blowing my nose on Monday. And, as I write this, I'm hopped up on all-manner of sinus relief medicine. I'm still pretty clogged up. I have run the last two days—easy, five milers. Legs have felt good, really good actually, but the sinuses are the real issue. With my history with asthma and allergies, I've sadly become pretty in-tune with my airways. I starting using an inhaler when I started running track. So, I'm a game time decision for Sunday. If I feel like my sinuses are clear enough, I'll give it a go. If not, I'm not interested in that death march. I know what it feels like, and I'm not going to put myself through that. More importantly, I don't want to prolong any illness and, therefore, recovery. Can you register for a 50k day of the race and do well? Hopefully, I'll get the chance to find out.